you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm

>> last time we were here, we saw three copies. >> it's a gift for joining us. an hour and 15 minutes of pure clean humor. >> one way to spell jackass. >> it's a family show. that's it for "power lunch". street signs with erin burnett begins in about 30 seconds. chrysler said they repaid their t.a.r.p. funds for the sale of asset-backed securities. chair mary shapiro said they are expecting ways to rely less on sandard and pours and moody.

president obama will tell a michigan audience that some of jobs lost in the oddo industry and elsewhere won't come back. for cnbc news now, i'm courtney reagan. >> i'm erin burnett and welcome to tuesday. here's what wall street is talking about. cowning down to major news, legislation on health care and what will be in it. it's a multibillion dollar question. we will hear from her live. our favorite place to be on the deck of a ship. it always happens to be the best place on earth to find out about whether things are going nowhere or getting better. that's here on "street signs" today. the ultimate croak us. we have something special. it's like a garden and that's our show and it starts now.

we begin with a check of the market averages. holing in there is the best place to describe it giving brought concerns about the market. we would be going lower and once you take solace in. earnings is a big story. goldman sacks is expected and priced into the stock in the market. a quick check on oil and that was a bigger story earlier. they put us at 5940.0. we go to the trading floors as always. we are back in from the cme in chicago and bertha at the nasdaq. let's start with you and what's the most important headline? >> the stocks are mixed and you can see this with martin.. take a look here. they had a fascinating commentary and they make all the stone and cement for all the highways and the residential

construction in the united states. they even bought the materials in the field. they lowered their earnings expectations and there two problems. the volume is way down below expectations because revenues are so weak and nobody is ordering. number two, the other big problem is the stimulus money is not arriving and to 1er when it's coming and the lack of money coming in has hurt their bottom line. they are saying the good news is 2010 should finally start seeing significant parts of the money. they are not seeing the stock down too much. both materials and only down about 2%. very mixed picture here on the economic front. >> what do you say, jeff? what's the most for you as you go? i want to throw this headline out there and you will be watching this all hour. that health bill that the house is proposing, you are going to pay 2% if you make above 350,000. if you make more, you will pay a

solid 3%. they are increasing taxes on the wealthy and that it bring in $544 billion over the next decade. >> less money for jobs to be created. we know that is not a formula by which an economy grows.s. what is buzz is really about is yesterday's rally, a continuation and we are holing this halle. what's happening to the yield curve and pay attention to the streets between two and 10 is giving warning julys in the past, yesterday was a good example of that and it gets to the point where it when money is coming out of the 10-year, there is an asset allocation going on and something that is trading on the floor. let's see how indeed there is a raising of taxes that playing out over the floor.

>> what about you, bertha? >> novellus is interesting. it's the appetizer to intel's entree after the close. not the biggest one in the state. it's on the with a wider loss. however it announces it could break even in the third quarter at best. less wide and up 2% and helping to lead the chip equipment makers higher. it's more from each customer and it's customers like intel who are paying more as well. back to you. >> thanks so much to all three of you. bob, wonderful to have you back. we say it again, bertha and jack as well. we always talk about shipping here. you can tell so much about an economy by what is coming and going. i remember when we were travelogue ship, it was amazing. you had the vast majority of trade traveling by ship. this is an example here.

the american trade deficit narrowed in may and while the weak economy means americans are buying less from overseas, experts have held up more. what are we seeing on imports and exports and the economy. going to three of the nation's ports and explain why we selected the three as we give you our map. the port of long beach is the second biggest with 100 billion in activity. keep in mind that is on the west coast and we will give you a look at the china trade. volume down about 20% this year. 225 million tons in cargo and 118 bill yen for the economy. you would think of houston as energy. the southern part of the country as energy.

volume is down 13% this year and experts are up and growing and the port of boston to get the east coast and central europe, the oldest continually active post in the western hemisphere and contributes and supports 34,000 jobs directly. thank you very much and we appreciate all three of you being with us today. let us start with you and we heard conflicting news in terms of what they are selling with us. what are you seeing? >> things have not been rosy at the port of long beach in 2009. we haven't seen an increase in imports since december of '07.. the economy through the port of long beach is not as good as it might be in other places. >> your volume for the year

according to the numbers i have here is 20%. are you seeing him provement in that? >> not really. we are not encouraged by the numbers we have seen in 2009 and we are hoping for a blip of encouragement during the holidays, but we are not expecting anything big for the balance of 2009. >> so no real improvement there. what about from your perspective and are we right in assuming that the port is dealing with u.s.-european trades? >> we also have service from china. we have a direct call from costco that calls from the port of boston on a weekly basis. we are seeing a 7% drop. that will come back in the peak season and we think it will come up above 4%.

>> it will look like the growth rate and slight improvement and not strong. >> that's correct. >> nosstrong and a slight up tick. >> what about you in houston? >> we have not enjoyed this year the growth we had in the past several years. the containers have been down about 7%. texas is a strong economy and the consumer market place that is fairly strong. about 1,000 people a day and those are all people who are wage earners and putting money back into the economy. we will have a platt year, but maybe a little bit of money at the end of the year. >> when you are saying flat, apples to apples, we will come

back to pretty much flat on the apples to apples? >> that's correct. >> the question to all three of you, how do we interpret this? a lot of people are going to flat and they seem depressed and glum about that. should we be be or is that something to celebrate? >> i think we will start to see increases in 2010. we will start to see the -- we will be making infrastructure improvements and history is any indication of the future, we know the trade will come back and the port will be prepared for the volumes that come along with it. >> what about i'm looking at all three of the ports and to

differing degrees, china and india and brazil are crucial for all of you. you have japan there in south korea and the west coast. can any of you jump in on this. what is the most important thing we can take away from the u.s.-china trade story right now. >> i think from costco's perspective in boston, we have not seen a dramatic decline. the imports and exports are pretty stable and the good news we can take away and is that we hit bottom. this is not a snap back recovery, the good news we can take away up in the new england area and massachusetts is we are bombing out and seeing even though it's slight, an increase.

>> i would anticipate they would continue to enjoy growth. we will see growth again next year. i would like long beach. we are in the middle of a big construction program. we anticipate continuing that and finishing that in that facility and increase our count to be used in the one facility per year and instead of growing it at 10 to 15%, you see us grow at 4 to 7%. texas is 23 million people and will double in the next 20 years. if that consumer moves into this market place, there is an opportunity for ports. >> on that note, we will leave it there. thanks too all three of you. perhaps a lesson to take away, overtime traditionally we will grow around where population agrees. if that's 4%, that's a good

growth rate and thor and the er plus will never come back. congress fix health care. what is in this legislation? they will mean higher taxes on wealthier americans to pay for that. you are waiting for the democrats to pay for the bill. that will break this power and that will bring you that live. the foreclosures are piling up. more than 300,000 of them a month. a quarter of those people can afford to pay those mortgages and choose not to. we have one of them, coming up. [ engine revving ] [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check.

well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you. introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience.

three big stories on the agenda in washington that mattered significantly for wall street. one, the senate banking committee on the proposed financial protection agency. this is significant. number two, mary shapiro testified in the subcommittee about bern may dove and three, the countdown in this hour of the house nancy pelosi will be introduced on reform. we have a man in the center of all three of the stories always

good to be with you and appreciate you taking the time. we know it's a good day for it. i know we will talk about consumer protection, but because they are crossing on health care and we are expecting a live comment from nancy pelosi, what is your view on the health care legislation that we are getting so far. we know this. there will be a tax increase on people making over $350,000 a year and the democrats say it will bring in billions to pay for health care over the next decade. that will be in the legislation? >> i hope we won't get this legislation. we have one of the health care if not the best health care system in the world and we need to build on it and not radically change it and especially not being in a recession start tacking people and especially people who take risks. >> have you had a chance to see

this legislation. what i'm getting out of this is a sense that they'll work with republicans. bipartisan or no? >> i hope it won't be especially if it's a tax bill of at least $500 billion over a period of years. some people say it will be a trillion and also others say it won't be enough money. i think that the radicalized health care system to create a government option and d everything, we are asking for this if the future and will ration health care. >> har is perhaps the most important question. >> the question is, i hope we won't. here we have this week and three more weeks unless it's extended, but if we hang tough and ask the right questions, we can improve drastically what has been proposed. we don't need to build on tacks during a recession and we certainly don't need a government-run health care plan.

>> it sounds like it's unclear whether we will get the legislation or not. i hear you. there significant differences of opinion. what about on this hearing. you were a part of that. this headline is important for call street. some of the credit card ceos i have spoken with who have been supporters are incredibly concerned about the protection agency. they say it would limit financial products and credilate cards and are you a supporter as it stands now? >> absolutely not. as you referenced, we had the first hearing on this and the senate banking committee. this would be a radical change from the model of regulation of banks and consumer behavior than we had in the past.

we don't know how far reaching this is, but it would go a lot further. will products be ban and who will run the agency? did you get answers to any of that? >> i don't think the people today will have the answers to them. a lot of concern there and a couple of panelists have deep concerns and a lot of us.s. we better be careful. i believe we do need more disclosure and transparency, but let's don't just change the system from one to the other without a lot of thought. >> a final question on the third headline. that was the sec share at mary shapiro speaking about and said she will get more information

about exactly who knew what when and why they seemed to be asleep at the switch with the bernard ma dor situation. what do you think of her leadership some. >> she on top of things and i knew her and worked with her when she was a divisioner a number of years back. i believe they do need who knew what and when and they obviously had a good attempt and didn't follow-through. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. supporting mary shapiro and not supporting the protection agency or the tax increases in the current health care legislation. we are moments away from a live speech where we find out everything we need to know about the health care reform. earnings central in full swing and there major companies reporting after the bell. >> my food was tapping.

that will be the big one. you will hear from al turna, another semiconductor maker. this would be a 23% drop in revenue. you need to watch the gross margins and not just the eps. look for it to come in north of 45% under pressure because the average selling price, there will be a lot of talk about that in terms of how far to reduce to move the product out the door. did you know that intel is the number one buyer and they by the number of restaurants are larger than mcdonald's by 10%. 43 cents per share on 2.5 billion.n. look for 4 x strategies and

almost half their sales overseas. they have 36,000 restaurants, my friends. 110 companies. there is a comparison. this is easily the bigger company and young is the better stock since they reported earnings a while ago. young brands operate the largest private hunger relief in the world in conjunction with the u.n.. i thought you liked that. >> i did not know that. speaking of the companies they operate in. thank you, matt. matt is giving you the earnings sense and we discussed the headlines with richard shelby.. let's get trades on both of those topics. david, i guess pick your poison. give us the antidote to the health care reform. >> i will tell you, one of the stocks we are looking at that we think is a good play is health net.

tricare which is the health industry plan for the military families not living on bases announced a five-year contract and health net got booted out. they got hit and rallied back a little bit. we think we have a couple of positives. the loss of tricare helps to complicate the story. we think this might help things. they are negotiating to sell the northeast operations and if it's sold soon, it will be a region an mco with most of the business in southern california. it's a strong market.t. the last time they had to reinvent itself, it reemerge skptd stock jumped 400% over three years. >> there is your health net and you are passionate about this. >> we love intel. we talked about reporting after the bell. there will be a lost of things we are looking at. we are looking at key things. net books are driving pc sales

and they have over 80% of the market through the processor that matt was talking b. three things will be bad for margins and not necessarily unless they cannibalize. that for the net books. at the end of the day that will help. dell talking about component costs. intel was able to hold with the supplier and intel was building inventory. others are tightening and we think this is evidence that intel is anticipating an up to beat back to school season. it takes 90 days to make a chip set and if guys are not doing it, it will move in september. >> david lutz. >> thanks erin. >> just ahead, president obama's agenda. stimulus was the centerpiece and now health care and then alternative energy and now health care. we are a few moments away from the actual plan coming out of the democrats. what is in it.

what specifically is going to have taxes go up? we have headlines, but we are awaiting the full story and commentary from the house speaker. we are excited about this. after four quarters of springing, one tiger is growing at more than 20%. we are not exaggerating. in this quarter, in this economic crisis, an economy growing 20% and an important one. we will have the story, coming up.

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we are awaiting news of a health care reform and savings over 10 years, john harwood wanted to get you on because some of the headlines we had seen on tax rates may not be what is in the legislation. what are you hear something. >> i'm hearing that the tax rate to help fund the house democratic health care plan will

levy a sur tax of 1% on income between 350,000 and half a million. 1.5% between a half million and $1 million and that is a very steeply graduated rate at that top end over a million dollars a year. it will be very, very difficult to sell that in the senate, but for now democrats think they can get the vote for the health care bill with that 5.4% sur tax on income over $1 million. >> i'm just asking to start to get a sense here, do you have a sense of where the headlines may have come from and 3% for 500 to a million and -- >> i was told this has been in flux all morning. leadership aides said not decided. what we have seen now about a half hour before the house leadership comes out and

announces it, we can get details. >> earlier it was 2% and they cut that somewhere between 1% and 1.5%. >> the trade off they made was to reduce the rate for those under $1 million and you only go to 1.5% over a half million income, but they are going way off over that. that's a tricky political dynamic because they left themselves open and soaking a small group of americans to pay for the health reform plan. that's that is not what the senate wants to do, but the production president obama gave the negotiators last night at the white house was get your own politics right and we will work out the differences. buckle your seatbelt. >> giving you the latest in

terms of the tax rates and proposing the legislation. nancy pelosi will be speaking live and we will bring that to you. let's talk about housing as we get ready for the house speaker. millions have lost homes due to foreclosure and we are all aware of that. we are trying to figure out how to help whether more help is in fact needed. a new raises very tough moral questions. what if the people who are going through foreclosure don't need help? a quarter of them apparently are not really in trouble. a quarter of people going into foreclosure can afford the payment, but choosing not to make the payment. some of them in a situation where the mortgage is worth more than the home. this is the outback of a new study from the university of chicago's school of business and kellogg school of manage am.

it's an incredible statistic. joining us to discuss the defaults, reuters money and politics columnist and a broker who is considering a mortgage default. good to have both of you with us. let's start with you, terry. i want to give you a fair chance to make your case. you have six mortgages and you are a broker and i want to understand where you stand right now. given the rate and the monthly payment, can you afford the payments? >> i can and the issue i have is that i have pay options on most of my loans and that's a ticking time bomb that needs to get resolved. i want to get a mortgage modification and i have tried the traditional way and i decided to make payments on the loans to make that happen. >> so in other words you may choose not to make payments and it comes down to mathematical thing you are doing. the mortgage is worth more than the home. i would do better to go into default?

>> no, that is the case. i bought my home during the peak and some of them are under water, but that's not my reason. my reason is because i have five years to get this into a fixed mortgage so that i don't have my payments go double what they are now. then i won't be able to afford the payment versus the rent i can collect. that's right. >> he is making a case and saying not that i'm a deadbeat and not that i don't have morals. he made his case and does if make sense for the people in that situation. >> let's take morals out of it. the housing policy is predicated on people not thinking like him. the housing policy from the obama administration assumes that people are not going to walk away. there were studies out that people are not going to walk away. that's not what we are seeing. we are seeing what they call

default because they are too far under water. i'm not sure anything the banks or government will do is going to help out in extreme cases. i can tell you one thing watching the current housing policy not working. a second stimulus might include new aid to homeowners. very, very expensive aid. >> could you respond to the moral point? >> me? >> yes. some people may say you sound like it doesn't matter if your mortgage is worth more than your home and a debt is a debt and you pay it no matter what. >> my intent is not to give up my home and get a modification so i can continue to make the payments that are reasonable versus the rent i can collect. >> you realize a professional like you will have very little

sympathy and thinks anything the government gives you is a complete joke. other people who do not have your expertise do not load up on homes are not getting help. >> i am doing this as a sophisticated homeowner. i want my loan modified. >> you were sophisticated. >> if you don't pay your mortgage they call and say we will modify your loan. >> they are not doing that.. you will default and it's not worth it. >> that's true, but final word to you. if you are current, they by law in the legislation, if you are current, you are not getting a mod. >> i had one loan modified on the home a year ago and i paid it ever since. >> thank you so much. that's obviously only a certain value for the home and it does get more complicated. we will have you both back. a lot still coming up on the show. we are counting down and nancy

be lossy's comments are coming up. we will check with jim cramer and the ultimate croak us. we'll be right back.

5.4%. are you ready? 5.4% on health care. then all the cigarettes you buy and your soda. that's a lot. >> you know, look. the surcharge itself is a lot and ron ensana had a good point. maybe they are jumping the gun and not looking at it generationally. you know what? this will be with us for sometime. >> yes, it is. i should say our anticipation of nancy pelosi giving us more details. the tax rate has been quite a fight through the morning to the extent that there numbers all over the map. >> i have no comment about nancy pelosi. that's not my job. >> i didn't ask for a comment. >> saying no comment is more of a comment. >> i think so too. >> you should be more sympathetic. >> let's move along.

goldman sacks has too much money and i don't mean that in the way some other people said it. they have too much money. >> right. they have endless liquidity. they have to follow out what to do with their money. i do believe that they could earn and no one is using this. they could earn $30 a share and they could selling at five times earnings. >> it was 4.93. >> meredith jumped the gun with her insightful cause to recommend the stocks to pile on. this is a company after it parks time there is a lot of yell 150 call buying that will be for nil. i think it will start going up as they redeploy capital now that the crisis is over. by the way, the crisis is over even though everyone said it isn't. >> what are do you do with goldman sacks?

it's one to have too much money and then the question of how you spend it. >> first of all, typically the window is open and "the insider"s sell. you don't buy this stock three days after the quarter after it ran up seven points. i believe that goldman sacks deployed the capital in the successful manner they have in the past, but they have to start. this is one of the things where i wished they would look around and take 5% of this bank and that bank and get invested of things that are under value and put the money in the trading floor. that's my view. a couple of other names. you mentioned the stock trade off coming down. >> we are seeing the gasoline rally and how good yum is doing. i'm looking at darden and sears looks like it's breaking out.

tiffany is up and the same trade they saw when guess lean broke from 4 down to two last year. it's happening again when oil can't hold to 60 levels. i i it goes to 55. that's where it translates to around there. that spurred consumer spending if the tax lifted. >> here's my problem.m. if you buy into that argument, you would buy home depot, lowe's, garden and sears and exclut wal-mart, why? >> they are not having a good quarter. what i hear, wal-mart is on the 52-week low. they are moving and i know that sounds like a reason, but i don't hear anything strong about wal-mart. i don't want to be in wal-mart when i have the others that are truly more undervalued and i worry about their quarter. whirlpool is confirming what i'm

saying in the stocks action. so is fortune brands and what i believe is overvalued and continues to go higher. >> one final question on the nancy pelosi issue. $544 billion is how much money that will not pass in the current form and that's what they are shooting for. for health care over the next 10 years whochlt is going to get that money? >> who are is get that money? >> 44 million uninsure and 10 or 12 million could go on medicare tomorrow. it's not $584 billion. somebody is getting that moan. >> material be for people who don't get health care. >> sorry there a group that you think will get the share of that? hard to tell. >> we think about this over and over on the show. they do better because there is less medicare advantage. huh that terrific guy yesterday with the fellow who did the

records and the computerization of records. you were the executive yesterday. athena health. no. this is one of the cases where i just think that you can invest in the people who get health care. >> $544 billion. thanks, jim. >> i'm at 70%. >> i don't know. >> welcome to what johnny carson was in. >> much more of jim at 6:00 and 11:00 eastern. coming up, nancy pelosi will be speaking and we promised you the ultimate crocus. a sign recovery is under way and an economy growing at 20%. right back on "street signs." [ engine revving ]

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>> per more news on the health care legislation. nancy pelosi will speak about it. what more have you learned? >> more detail to pay for the house health care plan. we told you a minute ago you have a 1% rate on income between 350 to 500,000. 1.5% from 500,000 to a million

if the health care reform plan passed by the house is found to need more money, there would be additional increases triggered. the rate for income between 350 and 500,000 is 2%. rate from 500,000 to a million would double to 3% from 1.5%. rate for people over a million would stay the same. it would take both stages over 10 years and also believe that politically they indicated that taxing people over $1 million is the least objectionable way to find with the public to pay for the plan and that's why they are going for it. not likely to be law in the end, but something to get them off the dime and get a bill passed as president obama wants. >> john harwood, thank you. going to stay with us as we await the house speaker and you see the room where she will be making the announcement.

jimmy, let me ask you, i know you were shakey ing your head and giving your headlines. you are not in favor of the tax increases. do you have a sense of where the tax revenue raised will go? >> it's going to go to hospitals and drug couples and doctors. let me say for everybody i talked to, this plan is not going to fly in the senate. every major way tax increases to pay for the plan, huh a prominent senator say we are not going to do it that way. the end game is that you are far more likely by the end of the year to get a smaller health care plan that can be paid for through minor tax increases and cutting spending. >> thank you. there is the house speaker nancy pelosi and let's listen to what she has to say.

>> good afternoon. this is indeed a we are introdu historic and transformative legislation that will benefit all americans, america's affordable health choices act. it is a health insurance act for the great middle class of america. i'd like to thank our committee chairs for the work that they have done to ensure quality, affordability and accessibility for america's middle class. and in doing so, i'm joining the president of the united states and the praise that he heaped upon them earlier today when the bill was filed.. i'd like to acknowledge the great work of chairman waxman of the energy and commerce committee, chairman wrangle of the ways and means committee, chairman james miller of the education and labor committee and to all of their staff who have worked so hard to make this day possible. i especially want to acknowledge chairman dengal.

i said to chairman dengal just before we came in here, are you happy? he said i'm happy and my father would be happy, too. every year he has in his long services in congress has introduced universal hair care legislation and now is the lead author on this historic legislation. thank you. thank you, mr. dengal. i'd also like to acknowledge some other members of the leadership are here, mr. hoyer, important leader and organizing and coordinating this effort, mr. clyburn, our distinguished whip, mr. larson the chair of the caucus, mr. ba sarah the vice chair, mr. van holland wears two leadership hats in assistant to the speaker and chair of the d.c. cc. in addition to that the chairs of the subcommittee who have worked very hard on this bringing their extensive knowledge and experience in

health care and health care insurance reform, chairman stark of the ways and means committee, chairman andrews of education and labor and chairman malone of the education -- of the energy and commerce committee. have i acknowledged everyone? i can acknowledge everyone in the caucus. this has been such a joint effort. over the coming weeks, congress will continue working with president obama to make health care reform work for middle class americans. this bill is a starting point and a path to success. . to lower costs for consumers and businesses to give greater choice to americans, including keeping your plan, your doctor and plan if you like them, better quality of care putting doctors, not insurance companies back in charge and to provide stability and peace of mind that you cannot be denied care or coverage for a pre-existing condition. this is so important to the middle class. you cannot be denied care from a pre-existing condition if you change jobs, lose your jobs or

start a new business, you still have health care. this is very important to the entrepreneurial spirit of america.a. inaction is not an option for us. that is why we are still on schedule to do what we have planned to vote on this legislation before we leave for the august recess. i'm now pleased to introduce the distinguished chairman of the energy and commerce committee and i do so with admiration and appreciation for his great leadership in bringing us to where we are today along with the other chairs. mr. waxman. and you can applaud. >> no, no, no. thank you very much, madam speaker. this legislation is landmark legislation, and this is a defining moment for our country. we are about to undertake what has eluded so many presidents and congresses for far too long, and that is the objective of getting good quality, affordable

health care insurance to every american. the president was elected with the mandate that he undertake this very ambitious goal, and he outlined how he wanted to achieve it, by building on the system that we have now by giving people the option to keep the insurance that they have if they like it, and to allow the seniors to stay in medicare but improve that system. but for those who have no insurance or for those small businesses that cannot afford insurance, our legislation will allow people to choose an insurance option, and i emphasize the word choice because that choice and competition is one very formidable way to hold down the costs. we are trying to achieve a number of different objectives, but holding down the cost in health care is certainly by far

our number one objective. the system is unsustainable. we cannot continue to put more and more money into health care, especially when you recognize that this country spends more money on health care than any other western industrialized d nation, and yet, we have 46 to 50 million people uninsured and more and more stories of people who have insurance that doesn't work for them when they need that insurance to kick in pain for their medical bills. we can't afford it as a country paying for medicare and medicaid, we can't afford it for those who are buying insurance. it's going up every year. we can't afford it for governments at the local level that help pay for health care, as well. so our system is dysfunctional. and this legislation we hope will bring a system together

that will serve all of the american people and all those who provide care for those people. the legislation that we are rolling out today is an improvement on the draft that was released a couple of weeks ago. it reflects the input from many of our colleagues. we have a number of items from making sure that we protect small businesses to making sure that people have more options, and a number of other changes that you'll be able to look at when you see the draft. this draft, which is the product of the three committees, will now be presented to each of our three committees and in our committee on the energy and commerce, we will work through some of the differences we have among the members both democrats and republicans. with the objective that we are going to get a bill.

we cannot allow this issue to be delayed. we cannot put it off again. we, quite frankly, cannot go home for a recess unless the house and the senate both pass bills to reform and restructure our health care system. and that is what we're going to be doing in the next three weeks. accomplishing this goal in the house and the senate so that we can get together and work out one final piece of legislation for the president to sign. i'm pleased that we've had such strong leadership from our speaker nancy pelosi and our majority leader steny hoyer and our whip jim clyburn and others in our caucus, and we are moving forward. we are going to -- we are going to accomplish what many people have felt wouldn't come in our